Carpets, such as free-lay carpet or backed carpet tile, have been prepared as either a tufted or a fusion-bonded carpet material having a wear face surface.
Tufted carpet tile generally comprises a primary carpet base sheet material having a plurality of tufted yarns through the primary base sheet material to form a wear face surface of loop or cut pile, and usually with a precoat, such as of a latex-type material, like carboxylated styrene-butadiene-styrene precoat, on the back surface to bond the yarn to the primary back. Tufted carpet roll goods usually have a secondary backing of jute, woven polypropylene or foam. Tufted carpet tile includes a backing layer which generally comprises a solid, thermoplastic material, such as atactic polypropylene, bitumen or polyvinyl chloride, preferably with a glass fiber sheet material, such as a mesh or fleece material, embedded therein to impart dimensional stability to the carpet tile. The backing may also include a foam-type backing layer, such as a PVC or urethane foam layer. Non-thermoplastic materials, such as polyurethane, may also be used for the backing. In addition, the tufted carpet tile may include a secondary backing sheet, such as of fiberglass, polypropylene or polyester-type material, or in fact, may be laminated and/or contain a pressure-sensitive adhesive strippable layer for application to a substrate.
Fusion-bonded carpet has essentially the same backing except that the fusion-bonded carpet is characterized by a plurality of cut pile yarns, for example, of nylon or other fibrous-type material, implanted in an adhesive layer, particularly thermoplastic, like a polyvinyl chloride layer, or a hot-melt adhesive layer. Where a polyvinyl chloride plastisol is used, heating of the layer gels and then fuses the layer, while with hot-melt adhesive material, a melted layer is applied and subsequently cooled. The plurality of fibrous yarns are bonded to and extend generally upright from the adhesive base layer to form a face wear surface. Generally, a fusion-bonded carpet also includes an adjacent backing layer of a glass fiber scrim material having large open areas and a glass fiber fleece which serves as a stabilizing carrier.
Fusion-bonded carpets may be prepared employing a number of well-known, different techniques and machines in both horizontal and vertical processes. The single-end fiber implantation technique, known as the "I" Bond process, holds the ends of the severed yarns in place by a layer of an adhesive material which is backed by a fiberglass scrim-type material adjacent to a non-woven, glass fiber fleece layer. Thereafter, the free ends of the fusion-bonded carpet may be embedded in another adhesive layer as before, and the resulting sandwich-type carpet then cut with an oscillating blade to form two rolls of fusion-bonded carpet having a cut wear face surface.
Another method known as the "U" Bond process employs a yarn feed wherein the yarns are folded by a pleating system into a corrugated layer and adjacent fiberglass scrim layer and a non-woven, glass fiber fleece layer are employed and coated with a adhesive material, such as polyvinyl chloride, to form a backing layer for the corrugated structure, so that one end of the closed loops of the corrugated structure are immersed in the adhesive layer. This process is then repeated employing the other closed loop surface. The sandwich-type carpet material is then split using a slitter knife to form two rolls of fusion-bonded carpet material.
Another technique for producing "U" Bond carpet employs a vertical configuration bonding machine wherein pleated or corrugated yarn is placed between a pair of vertical heaters or coolers and formed into a corrugated layer with each side of the layer inserted into a PVC or hot-melt adhesive layer and backed by the glass fiber mesh material and glass fiber fleece material, with the hot-melt adhesive heated and applied in a vertical configuration, and the resulting sandwich carpet material cut by an oscillating blade or saw to form two separate rolls of fusion-bonded carpet.
The fusion-bonded carpet material prepared by these various processes can then be converted into carpet or carpet tile with the application of a suitable backing layer and cutting or trimming it into suitable form.
It is desirable to provide for a new and improved pattern-tufted, fusion-bonded carpet material, including a carpet tile, which is characterized by a fibrous, overtufted design pattern on the face wear surface and for a method for preparing such carpet material.